The summer of 2016 ended with a beginning for me. That beginning was the start of the classes I would need to fulfill the requirements to receive my Broker's license in real estate. Ahead of me stared four months of classes, tests and studying for the State and National boards. Whew, I thought, do I really have the time for this?

Fast forward to December 2016 and I am in the exam room at PSIExams working my way through a three hour test. Once I pressed enter for the last question, I saw the word "PASSED". Woo Hoo....Victory!

As I walk out of the exam room, I am greeted by a neatly dressed lady holding a basket of little baggies all tied with bows filled with homemade oatmeal cookies. She was from True Vine Church. According to the test facility staff, she is the pastor's wife and she comes to the testing center weekly to offer her homemade cookies for a small donation to the church. More importantly they said, she offers encouragement to the people taking tests for licensing.

Not one to turn down a good oatmeal cookie, I asked her to wait so I can run to my car to see if I had any cash available. As I rummaged through my car and wallet, I realized I had a couple of dollars in coins but that was about the extent of my cash haul. Running back to the building, I run into her as she is leaving. Slightly out of breath I exclaim how I appreciate her offering her cookies to me but that I did not have enough money to purchase any that day.

With that I turned to walk back to my car. Before I can leave my parking space, she approaches my car, handing me one of her bags of cookies through the window. She insisted that I take them as a reward for passing my exam. "Are you sure", I asked? "Of course, Merry Christmas to you." "Merry Christmas" I replied back.

In a great big world, it was such a small kindness. A kindness that I think of more often than I think about passing that darn exam. Does the neatly dressed lady know that I think of her actions often? Am I the only one impacted by her gifts of culinary talents and time?

Perhaps it is not in the big events that make the biggest impact on people, but in the multitude of little ones that occur daily. Are we paying attention to the opportunities to show "a little kindness"? Can humanity not benefit from just simply being nice to each other? It is amazing the power in a little oatmeal cookie!

We, at think, are elated to write the first blog post for the new Dawn Roy Real Estate website. Where do we begin… well, I was introduced to Dawn at a BNI meeting and over the past few months we’ve had the good fortune of getting to know her well. Her exuberant attitude and infectious energy have stood out to us since day one and she continues to impress. Dawn is not your typical Real Estate Agent trying to make a sale—she genuinely cares about our community and the people around her.

Dez and Dawn at Cooper's Hawk Winery

As “creatives” we tend to recognize another kindred spirit, so with Dawn, we were drawn to her openness to think outside of what everyone else in her industry is doing. Fortunately, she saw that we’re birds of a flock, and this flock is well on its way to rebranding Dawn Roy Real Estate as an entity synonymous with quality.

We set out to find new ways of reaching those she could help most, specifically young home buyers with changing lifestyles. What better way to reach this market than to hire a team that fit this exact profile. She hired us to market to ourselves… brilliant!

Every step of the way she put her full trust in our creative and strategic perspective and we are thrilled about the work we’re doing for her. It’s our mission to have the rest of our community see Dawn in the same way we have come to know her, as a lifelong friend.

We want people to feel that they can trust, rely and confide in Dawn. We need them to know she is someone who will always help them. Someone that’s extremely resourceful and is always able to find that perfect place you can fill with everything that makes it home.

Sure, Dawn is a great Realtor, but she’s also the friend who can recommend the top ten restaurants within walking distance or the nearest farmers’ market. She’ll tell you where you can find the best dog-friendly events in town. Dawn loves Richmond and she wants her families to get as much out of it as she does.

We are so proud to be a part of this rebrand. We can not take all of the credit though, Dawn and her personality are the brand after all.